The Steel Guitar Forum

For years I've fooled around with PSG on my own, but progress was slow and complicated until I heard about John McClung and signed up for his Skype course. Without question he is BEST! Not to be redundant, I agree with every comment written before me. This is an instructor who is passionate about making sure every student reaches his goal. He's the man-give him a try, it's the best move you can make!! Sincerely,Fred

I'd like to add another recommendation for John. I reached my 10th year on pedal steel in 2015 and decided I wasn't really where I wanted to be. John's Skype lessons have been exactly what I needed to light a fire under my playing and learning, which was in something of a rut. I've realised there were some huge holes in my knowledge but it's been really good fun going over these areas in detail and an incredible boost to my confidence as a player. There is so much substance in John's lessons, and he's always throwing in new ideas and ways of looking at things, I know I'll be studying them for years to come. Thanks John, I'm finally getting somewhere!

Jonathan Shacklock wrote:I'd like to add another recommendation for John. I reached my 10th year on pedal steel in 2015 and decided I wasn't really where I wanted to be. John's Skype lessons have been exactly what I needed to light a fire under my playing and learning, which was in something of a rut. I've realised there were some huge holes in my knowledge but it's been really good fun going over these areas in detail and an incredible boost to my confidence as a player. There is so much substance in John's lessons, and he's always throwing in new ideas and ways of looking at things, I know I'll be studying them for years to come. Thanks John, I'm finally getting somewhere!

That's the kind of feedback I love getting! My goal is to help players better understand their role as a steel player (support the song and singer; play with taste; play the melody), and show them how to navigate the E9 neck with more knowledge, insight and confidence, always working on playing with "flow."

Jon is a perfect example of a student who is working very hard and putting everything I throw at him to good use, and right away. Most of the work is up to the student, of course, and no one said it was going to be easy, but the path is worth the effort, friends.

If you're muddling along without much purpose and direction, or you've simply plateaued and need a jump-start, please contact me, I'd love to help you get on a functional path to strong playing. And I always take into consideration my students' current skills and knowledge, so we don't necessarily have to start from Square One!

John McClung
Pedal Steel Lessons, Casuals, Sessions
Olympia, WA 98512
Email & PayPal fees – steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
Website – http://steelguitarlessons.com
Skype name: professortwang
Cell & text: 310-480-0717

I’d like to give props to my awesome teacher John McClung! For anyone out there wanting to learn or improve playing on The Beautiful Beast, I highly recommend John!

My personal story: I always loved the steel sound since I was a kid and kept wishing one day I would be able to play the pedal steel guitar myself. However I could never find a teacher close enough to where I lived.

Thankfully, through this blog, I found out about John’s live online courses. At first I was a bit reluctant, not knowing for sure whether PSG can be taught remotely online. But all those concerns were unnecessary. John provided me with amazingly clear and detailed instructions (with diagrams as well) on how to setup the learning space appropriately (with computer, camera, headphones, etc.).

I have now been learning under John for a few months and absolutely love it! His coursework printouts are fantastic and his teaching approach is thorough and a lot of fun. I went from an absolute beginner to now being able to have jam sessions, understand the ins-and-outs of PSG theory, play songs, etc.

In short, whether you’re an absolute beginner and an experienced player wanting to further advance, don’t hesitate to reach to John. He’s a teacher par excellence!

I could repeat the superlatives that have already been written here about John because they are more than accurate. To be candid and upfront, I have been taking John's E9 101 course so you could say I am bias which I am but speaking to those wondering if this page only reflect success stories with John and he might not be the teacher for you because you don't hear the bad stories on this page. Objectively speaking, that would be more on the students end and not Johns. John's course and instructional style will give you all the tools to be at least a well rounded, proficient steel player if not more depending on your dedication and motivation and not John and his teaching. So do you want to be a steel player? Because if you do, John style and lessons will give you basically everything you need but the rest is up to you.

Hello all!

Let me start by saying that finding a quality teacher that works for your learning style as a student is hard to come by in any subject but with pedal steel it’s even harder. I came into these lessons as a player above the beginner stage, my grandfather and I sit down behind our steel every week for the past two years and I had taken a few private lesson where I live, but it was lacking structure, a sense of direction with where I needed to go, for you new steel players you know exactly what I’m talking about. I felt as if there was a giant puzzle in front of me and only a few pieces fit correctly. After searching on google for what felt like forever I finally came across someone at least that appeared to have that structure and direction I so desperately needed.

Boy was I right! Johns lessons are amazing. They are well explained and structured so nicely. I was a little skeptical about taking online skype lessons but I would recommend them to anyone. John has many cameras set up so he can change camera angles with a quick click, makes it nice when you need to see a particular angle of something that you just can’t seem to get (right hand technique!). He goes as slow or as fast as needed, and is very patient. He is also a great person that cares about his students and how successful they want to be.

If your thinking about taking lesson to just noodle around the house or make it on the bandstand, just do it you won’t regret it. But remember he can’t play it for you. You have to put in the time to see results especially on this instrument!

Thanks John for all you’ve done for me so far as a player!

Though I've played guitar for years, I'm a late starter on PSG at 50 years old. Been making noise for 4 years now. I spent the first few years learning as best I could from books, tabs, you tube etc. There's great material out there, for sure, but I was on information overload and found myself jumping from one thing to the next with no specific direction other than to learn as much as I could, as fast as I could. Mostly just spinning my wheels and frustrated with slow progress and lack of understanding why the things I was learning worked and fit together.

After hearing John's interview on Bryan Daste's "Pedal Steel Podcast" I figured Skype lessons with John couldn't hurt and might be the next step forward for me. This experience has helped me gain an understanding of how this thing works in a logical, methodical and interesting way. Man, I've got a long way to go, but John's approach to learning has really helped. Thanks Again John!

I've had and currently have some wonderful students. It's an honor to help clear up the E9 tuning for so many folks.

All best,
John McClung
Pedal Steel Lessons, Casuals, Sessions
Olympia, WA 98512
Email & PayPal fees – steelguitarlessons@earthlink.net
Easy PayPal link: paypal.me/JohnMcClung
Website – http://steelguitarlessons.com
Skype name: professortwang
Cell & text: 310-480-0717

I'll chirp in here too.

Short Answer: John saved me a few years in learning and gave me enough material to self-teach after the lessons were finished.


There aren't many pedal steel teachers where I live in Canada, unless I want to drive 1 hour and a half through the permafrost. So, when I heard about John's lessons on "The Pedal Steel Podcast", I saved up my beaver pelts to get lessons.

He's very accommodating , organized, and his materials are excellent. He knows the steel so well, and teaches each concept from at least 2 or 3 angles.

Thanks John - play purdy

I got with John today for a lesson after over 2 years after taking regular lessons with him. I have some frustrations and holes in my playing and as usual John went above and beyond! He worked me in his schedule in a couple days and I am very satisfied with all John went over with me.

John is full of steel guitar wisdom. He gave me a month or two of things to explore and learn from.

Thanks John! I appreciate your attention to detail.

It was an honor sharing with you some of what I know about melodies and harmonies, Doug.

In my playing career I never felt I got a thorough explanation from anyone of how to really put standard harmonized scales to use in actual songs and playing situations. For some odd reason, it has always been a bit of a black hole in pedal steel instruction.

I worked out my own understanding and methodology by trial and error, and I truly delight in seeing the light bulbs go off over students' heads when they finally glimpse a relatively simple way of creating harmonized melodies.

I've been a certified Nordic ski instructor, certified windsurfing instructor, and have taught college classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, so I might be a little picky (pun intended) about working with someone. John McClung has the right competencies to make learning pedal steel productive and positive. He knows his sh*t in that he has a solid background in how music works, he understands the complexities of the instrument, and he draws from a variety of musical genres to match my interests.

While technical knowledge is important, his best qualities are flexibility, humor, and empathy. He's the kind of guy you'd welcome into your woodshed, no matter if you aspire to just play with a local band or be the next Buddy (good luck with that one!).

I feel supported and challenged by John's methodology and interactions. I couldn't ask for more.

Flip Brown wrote:I've been a certified Nordic ski instructor, certified windsurfing instructor, and have taught college classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, so I might be a little picky (pun intended) about working with someone. John McClung has the right competencies to make learning pedal steel productive and positive. He knows his sh*t in that he has a solid background in how music works, he understands the complexities of the instrument, and he draws from a variety of musical genres to match my interests.

While technical knowledge is important, his best qualities are flexibility, humor, and empathy. He's the kind of guy you'd welcome into your woodshed, no matter if you aspire to just play with a local band or be the next Buddy (good luck with that one!).

I feel supported and challenged by John's methodology and interactions. I couldn't ask for more.

High praise, indeed, Flip, thanks for publicly sharing your experience studying with me.

Folks, if you're a new steeler, or even more experienced but still not feeling like you "get" this instrument, or you're sensing that your understanding of basic elements of how music works is deficient, consider studying with me via Skype.

Over my 28 years of teaching (50 years of playing!) my approach has evolved considerably. I still pass on fundamental information you MUST know (majors, minors, dom7s, augmented, diminished, faking C6 on E9, palm and pick blocking, scales, a few licks, and more), but I now make sure to help you hear and understand the structure of music, so when you hear a song, you can make sense of chord changes and know what to do.

Without that, playing any instrument is too often a guessing game, or memorizing particular licks for particular songs.

I'm really striving to make you a self-sufficient learner.

Plus, as great as online videos and video courses are, only live coaching can assess your strengths and weaknesses, monitor your progress, and answer your questions in real time.

I offer a complete course I've written, "E9 101," which covers all the basics. But I also accept students for shorter periods, covering specific topics of interest to each student. Many graduated students return for one-off lessons on very specific topics, songs, or even technical topics like harmonics, blocking, tempered tuning, compensators, etc.

One-on-one E9 101 lessons are every two weeks, to accommodate busy adults with busy lives.

I look forward to helping you get where you'd like to be playing this wonderful instrument!

For even more feedback from my students, check out these posts:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... 17#2468417

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=300753